Right now, the entire Seattle Police force is in a neighborhood of Seattle trying to corner Maurice Clemmons, the suspected shooter of the 4 slain officers today.
Unfortunately, with all of the blocked off streets and controlled traffic, there is no local ongoing news for anyone in that neighborhood, or those of us who care about those people there. A lot of action, no explanation. We are all afraid. Is he caught? Is he out there?
The helicopters keep circling around but no news. It is infuriating.
I called the local 24-hour cable news channel, and they stated that their lack of coverage was due to the police and their "ongoing investigation." Great - but hey, can they at least say the suspect is still at large, or not? They have surrounded a home - but is the suspect in the home?
I am so upset with the lack of coverage and the lack of facts coming out right now. There is an entire area of Seattle under basic lockdown and there is no information or help for them. The civic irresponsibility is mindnumbing, as we wait for a sign.
I know this isn't much of a diary, but it's all I can do to deal with the stress of not knowing, and having a loved one in that area watching out of their windows and wondering whether or not they are safe.
As "fascinating" as the Huckabee connection is, this seems the more serious fact on the ground, as it were, right now.
Update:
Mike Huckabee has issued a statement about the killings, stating in part:
Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, this commutation made him parole eligible and he was then paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state.
Update #2:
www.seattlecrime.com is reporting that Clemmons is in the Leschi home and that the potential accomplice is still at large. Police seem to be negotiating with him. I'm not reading this at any other source, so I odn't know how true it is.
And for all of those who made really insightful statements such as "no news is no news" and other tidbits - I hope you will read the Central District News to read several others discussing the lack of information they have received during this. Again, no one is saying we need the intricate details of a case. We're not idiots. We do need, however, regular updates whether there is news or not.
Case in point, is that what the seattle crime blog might be correct - and all that's on our 24/7 news channel (channel 2) is football and bad commercials. This is not ok.